Later on, Mannhardt focused more on vegetation spirits from an evolutionist point of view, namely the primitive tree cult and its later developments.

[1] Mannhardt was born in Friedrichstadt and raised in Danzig by a Mennonite preacher; his interest in folklore and mythology was sparked by reading Jakob Grimm’s Deutsche Mythologie[2] and Jung-Stilling’s autobiography.

[3] He studied German language and literature at Tübingen and received a doctorate in 1854; the following year he became editor of the Zeitschrift für deutsche Mythologie und Sittenkunde journal.

[4] In 1865, he began to collect information on agrarian traditions, rituals and superstitions by sending out 150,000 questionnaires to clergymen, teachers, colleagues, and farmers’ associations in several languages.

[2][4] Due to ill health, he spent the last 17 years of his life as a librarian at the Danzig municipal library.